I recorded my first Christmas song in Grade 5 – Run Run Rudolph. I pressed that magical red button on my parent's cassette player – the one with the "R" on it – jammed away, and then took the tape to school as a gift for my favorite teacher, Mr. Mirwald. He quickly became my first concert promoter, as he distributed the tape among the Montgomery School staff, and convinced the top brass to wedge me into the Holiday Assembly. And so, with a Canadian Wool winter sock covering the microphone to prevent electric shocks, and a black Peavey electric guitar, I took to the stage and performed Run Run Rudolph, just as I'd performed it in the living room, in front of that cassette player. The students clapped politely, my friends made fun of me, and I became addicted to this whole "performing" thing.

So there's a little story for you.

And here are two new Christmas songs, recorded in my apartment, with slightly more sophisticated gear, but not by much.